Jalousie units and operating mechanism thereof



Jan. 28, 1958 F. J. MARTlN JALOUSIE unn's AND OPERATING MECHANISM THEREOF Filed July 2, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 28, 1958 F. J. MARTIN 2,821,381

JALOUSIE UNITS AND QPERATIING MECHANISM THEREOF Filed July 2, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent" JALGUSIE UNITS AND OPERATING MECHANISM THEREOF Frank J. Martin, Miami, Fla assignor, by mesne assignmcnts, to William E. Greene, Jr., Miami, Fla.

Application July 2, 1956, Serial No. 595,560

4 Claims. (Cl. 268-23) The-present invention relates to jalousie units, such as window constructions, and to operating-mechanism thereof including rotary operators.

A general object of the present invention is to provide such jalousie units with unique operating mechanism and, more particularly, eflicient and attractive rotary operators thereof which permit in a simple manner mount of the latter oneither the right side or the leftv sideas convenience or desire may dictate while providing a similar appearance in eitherposition of mount, thereby assuring a matched or complementary visual eifect in an enclosure or room equipped with a plurality of such units withthe rotary operators of-some mounted on one side and those of the others mounted on the other side thereof.

A morespecific-object of the present invention is to providefor such j'alousie units rotary operators of single design and construction having an external symmetrical appearance permitting reversed mountings onthe right and left sidesofsaid *units with similar-orcomplementary aspects, while eliminating necessity of supplying such operators in botliright and left designs:

Another-object ofi the present invention is to' provide such single designrJrot-ary operators in a 'visu'ally' pleasing andattractive fornr while permitting simple alternate install'ation with -a--mi'nim'um of effort and" without requiring provision" of extra parts; an economy in servicing aswell as. in installation-being: assured th'ereby.

A further objectLof the inventionxis. to provide structural embodiments? of theinventi'on'whiclr atezxreadily. and economically constructed and'swhich' pcrmitr efficient use and operation thereof;

Other; objects of. the invention: will in part: be; obvious and will in pai'ti appear hereinafter;

The: invention. accordinglyi comprises the; features: of construction, combination offelements,.andi arrangement of'parts, which: will be exemplified intheconstruction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in- .thBCCifllmSL For. afuller understandingof tho-nature and-objects of the invention reference should 'behad: to the:fol=low-ing detailed. description; taken in connectiorrwith. the acr comp anying, drawings, in which Fig. l is. a persp ective View, withparts .brokentaway, andvtorrreduced-scale of the:lower lefthand corner. of a jalousiev unit or. window mounted in a. wall opening, such. as a..window openingiitr conventional wall structure, showing. the:lower left hand-corner. partsthereof with .therotary operator. constituting. a .part of :the present invention, being shown .in itsleft handv position;

Fig. 2 isa perspective View, with parts broken away, of' mounted jalousie window structure similar to that shown in Fig. land depicting the lowerriglit hand corner th'ereof'with' a showing of the right h'andjpjosition of mounting of the'rotary operator;

Fig. 3' 's" an enlargedvertica-l section; with-parts broken away, .t'alcen'sulistantially-on lii1e=31 -3 of Fig.- 1; showing certaim parts including tliemotary operator in elevation;

Fig: it isi-a'n enrllarl'gedfverticalisectiorr; with'iparts" broken 2,821,381 Patented Jan. 28, 1958 away, taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 showing certain parts including the rotary operator in elevation;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged'transverse sectional view, with parts broken away, taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse section, withparts broken away, taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view, with parts broken away, taken substantially on line 7-7 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8' is asectional view, with parts broken away, taken substantially on line 8-8- of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 9 is a perspectiveview, with parts broken away, of the segmental gear of the rotary operator.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals identify similar parts throughout, it will be seen that the jalousie operating mechanism for swinging the plurality of horizontal louvers between cooperating closed and open positions includes a rotary operator which may be mounted either in a left hand position or a right hand position on the inside face of the unit at the same elevaional location. A left hand mounting of such rotary operator is shown in Figs. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 and a right hand mounting thereof is shown in Figs. 2', 4 and 6. The operating mechanism of the present invention may be embodied, for example, in a jalousie window of worthwhile conventional construction, such as indicated at 10.

Such jalousie window construction 10 may include a pair of laterally spaced side jambs-11 and 12 and the usual transverse head or sill member 13 with the latter mounted between andsecured to the side jambs. As best seen in Figs. 3 and'S, the side jamb 11 is provided with an inwardly-extending outside facing flange 14 having a terminal edge portion 15 extending outwardly substantially normal thereto, and the right side jamb 12 has a similar outside facing flange 16 provided with a similar terminal edge portion 17'so that the terminal edge portions 15 and'17 of the outside facing flanges- 14 and 16, respectively, of the. side jambs 11 and 1'2provide transversely-spaced, substantially parallel and vertically-extending flangeelementsbetween and to which the series of louvers 18-18 are pivotally mounted. The left side jamb ll'has an-inwardly-extending, inside-facing flange 19, and therightside jamb 12 has an opposed right inweirdly-extending, iuside'facing flange 2'0. These inside facing. flanges 19 and 20 are substantially aligned in the same vertical plane disposed parallel to the inside face of the wall structure 21 in which such jalousie window unit 10 is mounted, as will be best understood from Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6.

Each louver 18 preferably comprises in'a conventional manner an elongated strip or panel 22 of glass, but, of course, may-be of any other suitable material, as desired, having the left end edge'thereof engaged in a spring pivot clip 23 and th'eright end edge thereof engaged in another spring pivot clip 24, which are of similar construction in reverse order so that each left end spring clip 23 'is paired with a right end spring clip 24. Each left end spring clip 23 carries a rearwardly-extending leverarm 25' pivotally mounted by any suitable' means such as a headed rivet, at 26 to the inside face of flange portion 15, as'is best seen in Figs. 3, 5 and 7. Rearwardly of the pivotal mounting of spring clip lever arm'ZS-at 26, the end of the lever arm is pivotally mounted, such as at 27, to a verticallyextending slide'bar 28, and for this purpose another headed rivet may be used. Thus" at equally spaced points along the slide bar 28, the ends of the spring clip lever arms 25-25 are pivotally connected thereto, and for this purpose the slide bar, when constructed, will be provided with suitable pivot-receiving holes at such points. Each right end spring clip 24 is similarly pivotally mounted at 126 to the inside face of flange portion 17, as will be seen from Figs; 4' and 6, such as by like headed rivets.

The similar, but reversely-shaped, lever arms 125-125 of the right end spring clips 24-24 have their ends rearwardly of the pivot points 126-126 pivotally mounted at 127-127, preferably by like means, to another slide bar 28, which preferably is a duplicate of that mounted on the left side. It will thus be understood that when the right and left slide bars 28, 28 are moved longitudinally down, the louver panels 22-22 will be swung out to a position approaching lateral or horizontal orientation to provide intervening gaps therebetween for ventilation, and that when these right and left paired slide bars are moved longitudinally upward, the louvers will be swung in the opposite direction to approach an upwardly-extending orientation for lapping closure as is indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, all as is understood in the art.

Each of the upwardly-extending slide bars 28, whether mounted on the right side or the left side, preferably is provided with a pair of vertically-spaced connecting means with one thereof employed for linkage connection to certain operating means when such slide bare is mounted on the left side and the other being employed for linkage connection to such operating means when the slide bar is mounted on the right side. Each of said pair of. vertically-spaced connecting means may be in a variety of forms and, for example, in the form of the marginal edge of a hole drilled or punched through slide bar 28 with the defined pair of holes being longitudinally spaced, and the lower hole being indicated at 29 in Fig. 3 and the upper hole being indicated at 129 in Fig. 4 with both being shown in Fig. 7. One of the pair of vertically-spaced holes 29, 129 is used for connecting or pivotally mounting a connecting link 30 to each of the slide bars 28, 28, in any one of a number of conventional ways. Such a connection may be, for example, in the form of a suitable stud bolt 31 having a threaded shank 32 threadably engaged in an internally threaded hole 33 in one end of connecting link 30 constituting the upper end 34 thereof, as will be seen from Fig. 6 or Fig. 7. The lower end 35 of link 30 preferably is provided with a through hole 36 receiving therethrough in a rotatable manner a bolt 37 having a threaded shank 38 extending through a hole 39 in a suitable push-and-pull or operating member 44] and carrying beyond the latter a nut 41, all as will be more fully explained later.

Rotary operator 42 of the present invention is of unique design and construction so that it may be mounted either on the left side or the right side of the jalousie window unit 10, as may be desired, at the same elevation and to have a generally similar or seemingly like appearance. Presently, jalousie window rotary operators of conventional design are of unsymmetrical construction and are provided either in rights or lefts, and one intended for a right side mounting cannot be used on the left and vice versa because of customers objections to the resulting unbalanced and unmatching appearance. particular construction of a building or a room, or the arrangement of equipment or furniture therein as may be dictated by the desires of an occupant, make the mounting of the conventional rotary operator on the right side desirable or necessary, a right hand rotary operator must be employed for that purpose and vice versa, in order to satisfy a customers esthetic demands. Accordingly, conventional rotary operators must be supplied in both rights and lefts. The rotary operator 42 of the present invention makes this unnecessary.

Rotary operator 42 is reversible and has a symmetrically-shaped housing 43 from opposite ends of which extend fiat mounting cars 44, 44 pierced for reception of mounting bolts or sheet metal screws 45-45 to be anchored to either facing plate 19 on the left side or faciug plate on the right side, as will be understood from Figs. 3 and 4. Rotary operator housing 43 is hollow and preferably cast from suitable material, such as aluminum alloy, and has an integral boss 46 on one side thereof (constituting the inward sidewall thereof) which extends Thus, when the obliquely to that sidewall, as will be understod from Figs. 3 to 6 incl., and through which is rotatably mounted an operating worm shaft 47 angularly extending to the interior of the hollow housing. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the shaft-receiving boss 46 is located at a point midway between the top and bottom ends of the rotary operator housing 43 so that this boss and the rotary shaft 47 carried thereby will be mounted at the same elevational point whether the operator is mounted in one orientation on the right side or in a reverse orientation on the left side. A slightly off-center transverse partition 48 is provided in the rotary operator housing 43 in the vicinity of a transverse mid-plane to carry in the latter an angular boss 49 provided with a socket 50 which rotatably receives a reduced end 51 of worm shaft 47. Preferably, a thrust washer 52 is mounted about the reduced end 51 of the shaft abutting the face of the boss 49 to prevent the far end of worm 53 on shaft 47 from biting into and damaging this boss, as may be possible otherwise due to the relative softness of the aluminum alloy from which the rotary operator housing preferably is cast. The rotary shaft 47 carries an annular enlargement 54 which is abutted by another thrust washer 55 about shaft stem 56, and an externally threaded sleeve 57 is threaded into an internally threaded outer end of the bore through boss 46 to hold this worm shaft structure in position in the side of the housing 42. Such bearing mount of shaft 47 prevents back lash and locates the axis of the shaft in the transverse mid-plane for symmetrical arrangement of the external parts of the operator 42. Worm shaft stem 56 extends beyond boss 46 and receives thereon a suitable manually rotatable operating member, such as a T- shaped handle or the illustrated crank arm 58, fixed thereto in any suitable maner to rotate the worm shaft 47.

Within one chamber 59 of the partitioned interior of the hollow housing 43, a segmental gear 60 is rotatably mounted, as will be best seen from Fig. 8, and for this purpose a drive pin 61 is mounted through a hole in the other side of housing 43 (constituting the outward sidewall thereof) pivotally to carry segmental gear 60. From one edge portion of segmental gear 60 a lever arm extends outwardly to constitute the link-operating element 40 which is pivotally connected to the lower end 35 of push-and-pull link 30 by bolt 37, as previously explained. Segmental gear 60 has a series of teeth 61-61 arcuately arranged on another edge portion thereof and meshed with worm 53 for rotation of the former by the latter. It will be noted particularly from Fig. 9 that the teeth 61-61 of segmental gear 60 are substantially rectangular in radial section which has been found to provide a gear of longer life relatively free of undesirable play when meshed with a square worm thread, as is provided in the commercial embodiments of the present invention and as is illustrated in Fig. 8.

In use and operation of the rotary operator of the present invention let it be assumed that the desired or most convenient location for an embodiment of the rotary operator illustrated at 42 for a particular jalousie window 10 is on the left side of the latter. Holes will be drilled in the left side facing flange 19 for reception of the screws 45-45 and an elongated slot will be cut into this flange for reception of the operating lever arm 40 therethrough. If desired, the right and left side jambs Hand 12 may be constructed as duplicates by the jalousie manufacturer who may provide each with an elongated slot to accommodate the operating member or segmental gear and its lever arm 40 in either its upper position for the left side mounting or the lower position for the right side mounting. The connecting link 30 will have its upper end 34 pivotally connected at the top hole 129 of the left side vertical slide bar 28 by stud bolt 31. After the rotary operator 42 is mounted to the facing flange 19 by suitable means, such as screws 45-45, with operating lever arm 40 extending back through the slot cut in this flange the crank arm 58: will: be: rotated; in; a': clnclsviise:directinrrr as; viewed in Riga. 3x to raise: them operatingr arm" 40? substantially to'- the: Horizontal position there? depictedi Them the lower end 35;. of connecting; link' 30 will be'. pivotally connected to the operating leve'rtarrn 40:v by. the means provided therefor, such as. bolt 37; Thereafter, by rotation of the crank 58 m av counter-clockwise direction, as proposedby the arrow in Fig. 3, the operating lever arm 40 0f therotary operator will'b'e lowered' 'on swung down to pull down through the connecting link 30 the left side slide ban 28*; thereby swingingout and upwardly to open positions the-plurality or bank of'louvers 18-48. From such open positionsof'the louvers18-18 with the operating arm 40 lowered or swung down to a bottom position manual'rotation ofthe crank arm 58 in the reverse direction will raise this operating'lever arm 49 and through the connecting link 30*tlie left side slidebar 28- to pivot the louversback down to the closed position illustrated in Fig. 3': Of'course, since the right side slidebar 28 is pivotally connected to the louvers 18-18 in like fashion it is moved up and down simultaneously with like longitudinal translation ofthe' left side slide bar 28.

However, let it be assumed that th'e mo'stconvenient locationzfor the rotary operator 42 is-onthe rightitside of a particularrjalousie unit or windowe In this casexthe rotarybperator 42 will be reversed, ,that is turned through 180, so that the bottom end now becomes the top end and it will then be mounted in the above manner to the facing flange 20 with the manually operating crank arm 58 thereof again located on the inward sidewall. In this case, the crank arm 58 will then be rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 to raise its operating arm 40 to the upwardly-extending position there shown. With pivotal connection of the connecting link to the lever arm in the manner previously explained the top end 34 of the link will be pivotally connected by stud bolt 31 to the right side slide bar 28 at the lower hole 29. After such assembly of the parts of the operating mechanism, if the crank arm 58 is manually rotated in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, the operating arm 40 will be swung down to pull the operating link 30 downwardly thereby lowering the right side slide bar 28 to swing the louvers 18-18 outwardly and up to open positions. Reverse rotation of the crank arm 58 swings the operating lever arm 40 back up to the position indicated in Fig. 4, thereby lifting through connecting link 30 the right side slide bar 28 to swing the louvers 1818 back down to the closed position shown therein.

It will thus be seen that in a room or enclosure equipped with a plurality of jalousie units or windows with some 7 of them dictating a more convenient or desirable mounting of the rotary operators thereof on one side and others dictating a more convenient or desirable location of the rotary operators thereof on the other side, all such right and left mounted rotary operators will be located at the same heights to present a balanced appearance. The symmetrical shaping of the housings of the rotary operators will enhance the balanced appearance, and with the cranks thereof mounted at mid-points on the inward sidewalls of the housings thereof, the cranks will all be located at the same elevation in harmonious inboard positions. Thus the rotary operator of the present invention may be employed either for a left side or a right side mounting and there is no necessity for making the operators in rights and lefts requiring two sets of molds or production machinery for making them. Further economies are realized in that factories and dealers need not carry as large inventories as may be required by the stocking of both right and left rotary operators which is now standard practice. Also common errors frequently made in the installations of such conventional right and left rotary operators are eliminated by use of the present single design operator. The slide bar of single design may be used both on the right side and the left side and since two slide bars are employed in each 6 jalousie-unit itisadapted for driven translation by connection-itheretoof the. operating mechanism whether it be either-theright or'ther left slide bar. The same rotary operator and: the sameconnecting link as well as the same connectingimeans, e. g., the pivot stud bolt, are employed to elfecteithera right or. a left mounting of the operator.

It willIthus beseen' that the objects set. forth above, among those. made apparent from the preceding description, are efiiciently. attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inrtheaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative andnot ina limiting sense.

It is also to be understood thatthe following claims are intendedto cover allof the generic and specific features of the. invention herein described, and all statements ofthescope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might. betsaid to fall thereb'etween;

Having, described myinvention, what I claim as new and'desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1'. In:a jalousie.construction the combination comprisingsta pairofzright and left, upwardly-extending, side jambrmeanstpivotally. carrying at vertically-spaced points pairs-ofyopposed,laterally-spaced, louver clips; a pair of like upwardly-extending, elongated slide members each located za-djacenttone-zofssaid side jamb'means for up; and down movement and pivotally connected at verticallyspaced points to the louver clips on the same side simultaneously to swing said clips with up and down movement of said slide members, each of said slide members having a pair of vertically-spaced connecting means; a reversible rotary operator comprising a symmetricallyshaped hollow housing having mounting means for securing it to such side jamb means in either of two reversed orientations, said operator being mounted by said mounting means on one of said side jamb means, a gearoperating rotary shaft extending through a side of said housing at a point midway between top and bottom ends of the latter and carrying externally of said housing shaft-rotating manual means, gear means pivotally mounted in said housing and geared inside the latter to said shaft for rotation by the latter, and a lever arm carried by said gear means projecting out of the back of said housing spaced vertically to one side of the mid-Way point with said operator mounted on one of said side jamb means, said lever arm being projectable out of the back of said housing and spaced vertically to the other side of the mid-way point when said operator is mounted on the other of said side jamb means; and link means pivotally connected to said lever arm at one point and at another point to the adjacent slide member by one of the pair of vertically-spaced connecting means carried by the latter, the other of said pair of vertically-spaced connecting means of the other like slide member being adapted to serve this purpose when said operator is reversed and mounted to other of said side jamb means.

2. The jalousie construction as defined in claim 1 characterized by said vertically-spaced connecting means of each of said slide members as comprising structure thereof defining a pair of longitudinally-spaced holes and connecting pin means to be mounted alternatively in said holes, the upper one for a left side mounting of said rotary operator and the lower one for a right side mounting of said operator.

3. The jalousie construction as defined in claim 1 characterized by said hollow operator housing having like half portions on opposite sides of a transverse mid-plane, each half portion having an anchoring ear for mounting to said side jambs with said resulting pair of ears being like and located on opposite sides of the mid-plane at substantially equal distances from the latter, said housing having laterally-spaced sidewalls through one of which said rotary shaft extends obliquely, said housing having an open back mounted to one of said side jambs by said pair of ears with said side jamb having a slot therein opposite the open back with said lever arm projecting from out of the latter through the jamb slot to connection with said link means, said gear means being rotatably mounted in one of said half portions of said housing to one side of the transverse mid-plane with said lever arm projecting out of the back of this half portion, said lever arm being swung to one radial position for connection to said link means when said operator is mounted on one of said side jambs and to another radial position for a like purpose when said operator is mounted on the other of said side jambs.

4. In a jalousie unit the combination comprising a pair of right and left, upwardly-extending, laterally-spaced side jambs having upwardly-extending facing flanges with one having a longitudinally-extending slot cut therein; a plurality of transversely-extending louvers pivotally supported by and between said side jambs; a pair of right and left, upwardly-extending, longitudinally-slidable, elongated slide bars with each mounted adjacent one of said side jambs, said slide bars being pivotally connected to said louvers for swing of the latter by longitudinal translation of either of said slide bars; a reversible rotary operator comprising a symmetrically-shaped hollow housing having mounting means for securing it to such side jambs in either of two reversed orientations, said operator being mounted by said mounting means on said slotted side jamb facing flange and having a longitudinally-swingable lever arm extending from the back thereof through the jamb flange slot to the vicinity of the slide bar adjacent this side jamb, said housing having laterally-spaced inward and outward sidewalls with the upper and lower half portions of said housing being of similar appearance on opposite sides of a transverse midplane, a manually rotatable operating member mounted on the inward sidewall thereof at the transverse mid plane and means operatively connecting said operating member to said lever arm; and connecting link means pivotally connected to said lever arm and the adjacent slide bar to move the latter up and down with swing of said lever arm by rotation of said member for up and down swing of said louvers, said lever arm being connectable to the other of said slide bars in a similar manner by similar connecting link means for a like purpose when said rotary operator is reversed and mounted in the same position on the facing flange of the other side jamb.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,640,569 Jordan et al. June 2, 1953 2,644,557 Westman July 7, 1953 2,758,834 Sanford et al. Aug. 14, 1956 

